What to do if You Were Injured in an Accident

If you, or someone you know has been in an accident in California, the following are the top 5 things that Matt Wertheim wants you to consider:

1. Obtain any and all necessary medical treatment

Health and recovery are more important than any amount of money that can be obtained to compensate you for your injuries. Nevertheless, you should try and maximize your monetary recovery, and this article is written to help guide you (or your loved one) in the time immediately following an accident.

You may be recovering in a hospital room or at home following your accident. If in a hospital-follow all of the advice of the medical practitioners who are caring for you. If you are at home, and you were either not hospitalized-and/or released following a visit to the emergency room, if you are still in pain-then when you are feeling up to it, contact you primary care physician and schedule an appointment as soon as possible. If he or she cannot see you, consider going to a hospital emergency room or Urgent Care. Follow the advice of the medical professionals and seek the help of specialists when required.

You have a legal duty to yourself and the responsible (at-fault) party to get better as soon as possible - so do not miss appointments and do not delay in seeking treatment. Often juries are reluctant to reimburse medical bills if there are long "gaps" or delays in treatment. Many people think and hope that they will quickly recover, and hopefully that is true for most, but if you get past 1-2 weeks and are still in discomfort or pain-please seek out medical attention for your injuries and strictly follow the medical professionals’ advise.

Be honest and accurate with your medical professionals and in no way shade the truth. You may be asked your pain level on a 1-10 scale. If your pain is a “6” for you-and pain is subjective-don’t say it’s a “10.”  Similarly, don’t be the “I will soldier on” type of patient/person and not want to show “weakness” and say your pain is a “2” when it is really a “6” for you. Know that everything you say to your healthcare professional- be it the ambulance driver, your doctor, your surgeon, or your physical therapist- will likely be quoted or paraphrased in your medical records, so please be cognizant of what you say and how you say it. At some point if the future your attorney will be using your medical records to help achieve a maximum monetary recovery on your behalf and what is in your records will be a big part of how an insurance company or jury evaluates your claim.

2. Be careful about what you say and to whom you say it

Often insurance companies will try and take a recorded statement of the injured person and witnesses soon after the accident. Make sure to only tell the truth and better yet, do not give a statement until you have consulted an attorney...to make sure you give the best and clearest statement possible. If you say something wrong, untrue, or unclear- under oath in such a recorded statement- this could undermine your case. So if/when you give a statement be careful to only tell the truth. Do not speculate or guess - and be factual (not argumentative). Do not use superlatives like “I always do x” or “I never do y.”  Its perfectly fine to ask for some time to recover before giving a statement, and getting such a delay will allow you the opportunity to get advice from an attorney and be clear in your thoughts/statement.

3. What evidence can be preserved?

Were there any witnesses? If so, write down their names and contact information. Witnesses can “disappear” so asking them to stick around until the police arrive is always smart. If possible, take photographs of the vehicles before they are moved, but be careful to not put yourself in harms way. Certainly, take photos of your vehicle damage prior to repairing.

Was a police report made? Often injured claimants feel that they will be fine, may be worried about an expensive ambulance bill, and they tell the investigating officer that they “are fine” and do not want a police report made.  If you were slightly injured-have a report made to help document what happened. Often people think they are not hurt at an accident scene and later have significant head trauma or soft tissue injuries. Police will only respond to an accident and write a report if a person in the accident says he/she was injured. You can say you were injured and that you will seek treatment on your own (i.e. an ambulance need not always be called). If you did not feel injured at the accident scene and later feel injuries (which is very normal due to adrenaline-masking injuries at an accident scene and thereafter for 2-24 hours), go to your local police station and make what is called a Counter Report so that there is an official record of the accident.

Always exchange information with the other driver. Take photos on your cell phone, if possible (or ask someone else to do it for you). Obtain a photo of the other driver’s license and insurance information, as well as their vehicle. Obtaining this contact information is required by the California Vehicle Code and by your insurance company.

4. Find an experienced personal injury attorney

Only start the process of looking to hire an attorney when you need to do so. This often is when one feels “bombarded” by the paperwork or calls/emails from insurance adjusters and claims departments. Only start interviewing and speaking to an attorney when you feel medically up to it. Hiring an attorney will provide you the “shield” that will help you focus on healing. Once an attorney is hired, he/she will write to all the “interested persons” (i.e. claims investigators/adjusters) that he/she now represents you and to direct any/all communications to the attention of the attorney. Again, this will keep the calls and emails from coming to you so that you can rest and heal as quickly as possible.

Your friends and family may know an attorney to represent you, and that person would be a good person to ask questions early on so you can be guided by the attorney on how best to proceed (if this article does not answer all of your questions send an email question to staff@wertheimlaw.com and it will be promptly answered). Remember that you don't need to sign up with the first attorney you speak with or the one the ambulance driver or tow truck driver recommends. There are a lot of unscrupulous lawyers who pay what are called "cappers" to refer cases. They illegally and unethically pay cash or a percentage of the recovery.

Never hire any attorney or law firm who you feel is immoral, unethical, or makes you feel in any way uncomfortable or not confident in the attorney’s abilities.

When you have interviewed a lawyer and are happy with him or her, ask the lawyer to meet with you and/or your family. Consider asking the attorney for the names of prior clients who you can speak to about the care and attention the lawyer provided. Find out if those clients were satisfied with the results. If you are comfortable with your lawyer, then the legal process and your healing will both go as well as possible. Remember there is no such thing as a “stupid question, and know that Matt Wertheim & Associates is available to advise you 24/7/365.

5. Keep a journal for your lawyer

If you write something for your lawyer, it is protected by the attorney-client privilege and the information in the journal cannot be reviewed by anyone except you and your attorney.  If possible, keep the journal on an open and continuously updated page on a computer, laptop, or notes on your cell phone so it can easily be transferred to your attorney.

The types of things to Keep track of:

• Pain

• Headaches

• Sleeplessness

• Out-of-pocket expenses for medication, etc.

• Missed special events (such as a wedding, bowling league, etc.)

• Lost income or time from work

Please understand that the legal process can sometimes be slow and that it often can take 6-18 months to resolve a case depending on whether or not it goes to court, and the length of your medical treatment/ recovery time. Hopefully, you will be healed and better sooner than later. It is important that you and your attorney have documented information that can be used to remind you of the pain you were in and all the problems the accident and resulting injuries caused you. This will help you and your attorney obtain the best possible result at trial, mediation, arbitration, or through a negotiated settlement.

Therefore, it is extremely important to keep a journal of your pain, your suffering, your medical appointments and procedures. Keep track of having to take medication for pain, nights when you have trouble sleeping, fears, pain, work missed, special events like weddings missed, etc. This way, when you are testifying at deposition or trial (at a time when you are hopefully not in any pain)  you can refer to your journal so as to remind yourself about how the accident so badly impacted your life.  People forget how much pain they were in, so keeping the journal at or near the time of your “events” will help you and your attorney in the future presentation of your claim.

Contact us for a free consultation regarding your accident. Your call with be confidential, risk-free, and with no obligation.